Supercropping

[Trala]

Good morning legends

I think I need a lesson in supercropping coz I don’t think it means what I think it means. It’s not a technique I use often, and when I do it usually results in tantrums, tears and tape.

Exhibit A

And please know, I am not the brightest star in the sky, so if you have the time or inclination please explain it to me as if you were talking to a 3 year old with attention span issues.

 

[Sparkey224]

I only do it T, if 4 or 6 of the main top branching go past the rest of the canopy/plants in the tent. Just did it yesterday, not the best example here some pics.
pinch the stem 3inchs and start bending slowly parallel to the rest of the canopy.

Before pic

After pic

Hope that helps you out a little, ive only done it few times due to out of control stretch.
Cheers

 

[Trala]

Omg I’ve been just cracking them! Like standing one minute, CrAcK the next.

Thank you!

 

[Pat Puffer]

I grew sativas outdoors with a 6' fence and super cropping was my best friend.

My technique isn't difficult and is modeled after everyone else's. Outdoors my stalks were very thick. Usually one would just grab a hold of the stalk and squeeze it between your thumb and index finger until you felt it start to go limp and visually see the top get a bit wobbly. At that point you gently push it over in the direction you want it to go until it reaches the point/position you want it at.

Outdoors I had to get a bit more industrial. I would grab my needle nose pliers and any old sock. I would wrap the sock around the stalk and GENTLY squeeze with the pliers until I saw the top become visually wobbly. At that point again I would push it over in the direction I wanted until it reaches the position/height I wanted it at.

Both indoors and outdoors required me to tie it off with twisty tie. I always kept a spool around because it is a handy tool to have in our arsenal as growers.

 

[Roy Growin]

If you put your thumb on the stem in the direction you want to point the top, then pinch/gently rub, it will naturally come where you want it
Avoid pinching from the front, then folding to the side, keep the 'grain' of the stem intact

 

[Chuckeye]

I prefer to gently pull it over and tie it off rather than damage the stem.

Cheers

 

[nivek]

assuming you are interested in actually 'breaking'/folding over with crease' type cropping,, i might just give one pointer that i find useful,,

i am sure it has been mentioned to be grabbing the branch with thumb and pointer below crack point, and one thumb and pointer above crack point,, and give lots of squeezing and twisting to soften the branch up,, then, when ready to crack,, push down with the top hand and bend to breakage at the same time. the pushing down mushes the spot up a bit to allow for the break without separation,,

practice makes perfect tho, indeed

breaking a branch this way does not slow the plant down one single bit,, next morning plant will be fighting so hard to be straight again,, so,, tie it down somehow

karma sent

 

[Sparkey224]

If you put your thumb on the stem in the direction you want to point the top, then pinch/gently rub, it will naturally come where you want it
Avoid pinching from the front, then folding to the side, keep the 'grain' of the stem intact

Makes perfect sense! Probably why sometimes ill get a split.
Thanks Roy for the tip

 

[013]

Thats perfect, however without damaging the stem a knuckle doesn’t happen. Absence of a knuckle would indicate no supercrop. But you have certainly offered a viable option to solve the problem!

Can be done by gently manipulating the stem into a soft break and leaving it (the stem or branch) in its original orientation… done on vertical stem… this won’t win any awards for having huge knuckle cuz it’s barely a kink, but you can see main stem was damaged and kept on trucking…

14948965-29B5-401B-A25B-2B700335BAA6.jpeg

• 013
• Jan 18, 2023

or more commonly seen the manipulated branch can be accompanied by a 90 degree bend, defs counted as a hard break

5B6C4B7B-38B2-4B00-A0E1-773807932181.jpeg

• 013
• Jan 18, 2023

then there’s the old plumbers trick …. 2 bends of 45 degrees are better than 1 bend of 90 degrees, illustrated with technical specs to be honest the 2 / 45 rule is about how to efficiently wash shite down the drain but anywho with 2 bends you can easily lower a plant by many inches and get a small SC knuckle at each bend. Altho not fully depicted above- you can do SC anywhere on the plant…. whether it be main trunk or any side branch but most go with side branches or under colas etc

78B46463-D4E2-48E9-95B9-C2D62B3635CB.jpeg

• 013
• Jan 18, 2023

there’s no passive aggressive going on here but get to snapping Miss Tra… break ‘em like you mean it, but do it real gently please!

Q: what’s the difference between exotic and erotic?
A: exotic involves chicken feathers, erotic uses the whole damn bird

 

[Papa OG]

This plant ran over 6ft twice. The minor stress caused, induced massive recovery growth in other areas.

 

[Sparkey224]

What ive noticed after SC is the middles really come up and bulk out nicely.

 

[013]

in past I’ve always done either lst, top, manifold, quad etc so this is my first christmas tree plant. But on this next plant I’m doing it where the symmetrical nodes on lowers are cropped out to the sides, but where the top is staggered I’m bruising main stem 3 or 4 times where node spacing allows but not putting a hard bend in those.

never know til I try

 

[Pat Puffer]

Cropping exposes bud sites to light and air flow. This encourages better growth and bulking up at those sites. It's a great tactic indoors if room permits it.

 

[Trala]

I grew sativas outdoors with a 6' fence and super cropping was my best friend.

My technique isn't difficult and is modeled after everyone else's. Outdoors my stalks were very thick. Usually one would just grab a hold of the stalk and squeeze it between your thumb and index finger until you felt it start to go limp and visually see the top get a bit wobbly. At that point you gently push it over in the direction you want it to go until it reaches the point/position you want it at.

Outdoors I had to get a bit more industrial. I would grab my needle nose pliers and any old sock. I would wrap the sock around the stalk and GENTLY squeeze with the pliers until I saw the top become visually wobbly. At that point again I would push it over in the direction I wanted until it reaches the position/height I wanted it at.

Both indoors and outdoors required me to tie it off with twisty tie. I always kept a spool around because it is a handy tool to have in our arsenal as growers.

Hi Patient

Thanks for taking the time to reply and I hope you’re living your dream!

I think gently is the key word I need to take on board. I go at it like a starving spider monkey on a piece of sugar cane lol

 

[Trala]

If you put your thumb on the stem in the direction you want to point the top, then pinch/gently rub, it will naturally come where you want it
Avoid pinching from the front, then folding to the side, keep the 'grain' of the stem intact

Thanks RoyBoy

 

[Pat Puffer]

You're very welcome, and keep being awesome @Trala

 

[Trala]

I prefer to gently pull it over and tie it off rather than damage the stem.

Cheers

That looks beautiful

 

[Trala]

assuming you are interested in actually 'breaking'/folding over with crease' type cropping,, i might just give one pointer that i find useful,,

i am sure it has been mentioned to be grabbing the branch with thumb and pointer below crack point, and one thumb and pointer above crack point,, and give lots of squeezing and twisting to soften the branch up,, then, when ready to crack,, push down with the top hand and bend to breakage at the same time. the pushing down mushes the spot up a bit to allow for the break without separation,,

practice makes perfect tho, indeed

breaking a branch this way does not slow the plant down one single bit,, next morning plant will be fighting so hard to be straight again,, so,, tie it down somehow

karma sent

Thank you

I really appreciate you taking the time to help me

 

[Trala]

This plant ran over 6ft twice. The minor stress caused, induced massive recovery growth in other areas.

Beautiful bends yoga

 

[Trala]

You're very welcome, and keep being awesome @Trala

Big smiling!

First one for today too!